Hundreds of satisfied customers! (Heatcomplete)

Member Name: macutmore

Product:	Heatcomplete
Date:	03/05/01 (698 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Inexpensive (when nothing goes wrong), evening work possible, monthly payment option.

Disadvantages: Wait till you need something done!

I first discovered ‘HeatComplete’ after receiving one of those annoying letter box flyer leaflets, and having paid ‘through the nose’ in the past for annual boiler services (which just seemed to involve the hoovering out of a piece of soot every year), I decided to seriously consider their 5-Star Maintenance Service for my central heating system.

As systems get older there are a lot of Service companies that exclude ageing systems from qualifying for a Service Contract- not so with HeatComplete, whatever the age of your system (including warm air units) it should qualify.

On the face of it the price of the Service Contract they were offering was extremely competitive, allowing monthly payments (by standing order), or an annual payment, (slightly cheaper than the monthly option in total), by several payment means (including debit / credit cards)!

See their website for the current rates.
It’s interesting to note that it’s the number of bedrooms in your home that determine how much you are required to pay.

HeatCompletes’ contract though doesn’t end at an annual service of your boiler. You actually get your Fires, Cookers, Radiators, Showers, and Water systems all checked for safety at the same time!

If you don’t know about the importance of a periodic inspection of a gas heating installation, you should be made aware now, since CO (Carbon monoxide) is a colourless and odourless gas that can be omitted by a badly maintained (or not maintained) system. CO is a killer, - enough said, - don’t let it happen!

It is, of course, very wise to install a CO detector. Something that can save your life is always cheap enough.

I joined HeatComplete in August 1999. Paying annually, I got my first service straight away. At the time, I received a five pounds Sainsburys voucher as a sign up ‘gift’ (I don’t think they do this now).

I wa
s suitably convinced, and happy having received an all-round check of my gas cooker, kick space heater, and seemingly competent service of my gas combination boiler.

How is this for piece of mind? The real gift, is knowing that your HeatComplete contract includes an unlimited amount of emergency call outs during the year! Not only that, - One hundred pounds of parts and labour is included in this! Now we are talking!

One year later, a letter duly advised me that my contract required renewal, and that I required another service- but what’s this? - The price was exactly the same! (Nothing like being happy is there).

Yet another service later, (a different engineer this time) -they use local based engineers and also work evenings- no more booking days off from work!

I really believed my worries were over concerning boiler maintenance until more recently, when first, my hot water became intermittently non-existent- and so did the central heating! What could possibly be wrong?

Initially the fault was intermittent enough to be ‘rare’, but slowly became worse until unreliable completely. One minute I’d have hot water, the next I wouldn’t!

I checked the obvious religiously (as I do), followed all the faultfinding charts, and realised with horror that the ‘inevitable’ emergency call out was ‘necessary’! - At least I was covered (or was I)?

It seemed to me that my digital timer was ‘playing up’ and I wondered if my service contract would ‘cover’ one of these (why shouldn’t it)? Out of interest (reading my boiler maintenance manual), I discovered that it was possible to by-pass the timer by simply connecting it’s switched live wire to the live mains feed wire (this was easy and simply meant removing the timer from the wall)- this I did and hey presto- hot water and heating!

I gave HeatComplete a call, explaining my i
ntermittent fault, and the fact that I believed the timer to be the cause. An Engineer was assigned for an evening appointment, (a Saturday).

On the Saturday I went out, arriving back home late afternoon and s***, - the Engineer had already been! - A note was left explaining that I should make another appointment! - No way!

Instinctively, I rang the last number that called my home phone (a mobile)- It was the Engineer!! - He had missed me by just thirty minutes! Fortunately, he said he would be right round, and half an hour later he arrived.

A ten-minute stint with a digital multimeter confirmed that I was right, - I DID need a timer. He explained that he didn’t have one right now, but that he would bring a new one on Monday! - Great I thought!

An hour later I had a call from the HeatComplete ‘office’ lady…

‘You need a new timer, Sir’

‘I know you are bringing one on Monday’

‘Err, - bit of a problem- can’t get one till Tuesday’

‘That’s ok, Tuesday will be fine- Tuesday evening’

‘Oh, there’s thirty seven pounds to pay, sir………’

‘That’s ok, I’m covered up to one hundred, aren’t I?’

‘That’s right, the bill is one hundred and thirty- seven pounds’

‘What?’

‘One hundred and thirty-seven pounds, sir- two hours labour plus spares, i.e. the timer’

‘But the engineer only took ten minutes, and a new timer is only thirty eight pounds anyway!!!!!!!!!!!!’

I cannot unfortunately print the conversation that progressed, since I was convinced by now that I had been ‘scammed’. The customer service lady became frustrated, explaining that she had NO time to argue with me, the company had hundreds of satisfied customer’s and that she was o
n ‘emergency call monitoring’!

Hang on a minute- what about MY emergency then? Technically I had no hot water or central heating (The Engineer didn’t have the gumption to bypass the timer like I did), I was up the creek without a paddle, and so much for ‘customer service’.

To say that I was absolutely livid would be an understatement!

‘Do you want to get the timer yourself sir- we will not guarantee it at all if you do, or do you want us to help you or not?’

Things progressed, to cut a long story short. My new timer has since been fitted, (they took my existing one away), and used the existing wall bracket (of the old one).

A day later the intermittent fault persisted, - I realised it could be a circuit board fault, and knowing a bit about electronics myself, (I’m no corgi gas fitter though), I decided to have a brief look at the printed circuit board.

In two minutes I discovered a dry joint on a power regulator, which I re-soldered easily. (I think a new circuit board could have been quite a few notes).

My system is now running perfectly.

My Service contract is up for renewal again soon!

Any ideas?

Incidently, I notice that HeatCompletes' website appears to be insecure for online payments- just thought this worth a mention too.

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